Angie U Song

Despite skin being the largest human organ, many people don’t take the necessary steps to properly take care of it.

As the body ages, the skin’s elastin and collagen break down, making it more difficult for old skin cells to be replaced with new ones. The body’s oil production also slows as the years go by. These combined effects cause skin to appear duller, dryer and more wrinkled.

While around 50 percent of our skin condition depends on genetics, the other 50 percent relies on how well we treat our skin. Follow these tips to practice basic skin care in your younger years:

This week the US Food and Drug Administration approved the release of fingolimod (trade name Gilenya®), the first oral medication for the treatment of remitting relapsing multiple sclerosis. Swedish Neuroscience Institute is proud to have participated in the pivotal clinical trial that led to the approval of Gilenya. Gilenya is a welcome addition to the set of medications available to patients living with MS. There are currently five injectable therapies and two intravenous therapies approved by the FDA for the treatment of MS. Although these treatments are very effective, many patients have been hoping for an oral alternative. Some patients are finding that they have “injection fatigue” or are running out of places to inject the medication. It is important to note, however, that not all patients should switch to Gilenya. Patients with stable disease shoul...

On August 12, 2010 six undergraduate and three high-school students completed the 2010 Swedish Summer Research Program. This program is now in its second year and was led by Dr. Dan Rizzuto, Research Manager at Swedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) and Dr. John Henson, Director of Neurology at SNI.

The 10 week program included training in research ethics and basic neurology as well as weekly seminars from SNI physicians. Each student was also assigned to a research project and individually mentored by the physician investigator leading the research. The program was roundly considered a success by all participants. Of note, one participant and his mentor wrote a manuscript, entitled “The Impact of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Visuospatial Navigation and Memory”, which was submitted ...

Acute stroke is the third leading cause of mortality and the major cause of long-term disability in the developed world. Ischemic strokes account for about 85 percent of all acute strokes and are caused by clots that block blood vessels in the brain, stopping the flow of blood to crucial brain areas.

The main approach to treating acute ischemic stroke is thrombolysis, which degrades the clot causing the stroke and provides significant clinical improvements. The only thrombolytic intervention for acute ischemic stroke that is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alteplase. However, alteplase must be administered within three hours after symptom onset to avoid the risk of inducing a hemorrhage in the brain. (More recent evidence supports delivering alteplase up to 4.5 hours.) Because of this time limitation, it is estimated that alteplase is currently administered to less than five percent of acute stroke patient...

The ketogenic diet is a well-recognized, effective, non-pharmacologic treatment for intractable pediatric epilepsy. The diet, which is high fat and low carbohy­drate, alters the metabolic biochemistry in the brain to utilize fat and ketones, rather than carbohydrates and glucose, as the primary energy source. Meals are care­fully calculated and prepared, accounting for all grams of fat, protein and carbohydrates. A great deal of moti­vation is required from the patient and parents in order to adhere to this strictly cal­culated diet.

Using ketones as the primary fuel source has proven to dramatically reduce the occurrence of seizures. Approximately two-thirds of patients on the ketogenic diet experience 50 percent or greater reduction in seizure frequency and 10-15 percent of patients experience complete seizure free...

Swedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) is moving forward with plans to increase the availability of tertiary neurological care for patients in the Pacific Northwest. "Eight new providers will join the SNI staff in August," noted Marc Mayberg, MD, co-director of SNI, "adding specialty care in neuro-otology, functional radiosurgery, and neuropsychiatry, and expanding our existing programs in multiple sclerosis, stroke, neuromuscular disease, pediatric neurology, and general neurology." An upcoming issue of the SNI newsletter, BrainWaves, will provide more detail about these new providers and programs. Stay tuned for updates.